Trump Follows Tradition, Leaves a Note for Biden in Oval Office | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Joseph Curl.

    President Donald Trump has left a note for his successor, Joe Biden, in the Oval Office, extending a tradition in which the outgoing president expresses hope that the new president will be successful.

    "The President left a note for President-elect Biden," said Judd Deere, Trump's deputy press secretary. But the contents of the note were not released — usually, the new president will share what the note said.

    While Trump chose not to attend Biden's inauguration, the first to do so since Andrew Johnson 1869, he did keep the 32-year tradition of the notes alive. Trump left the White House early Wednesday morning and after delivering a brief speech to family and supporters at Andrews Air Force Base, departed at 9 a.m. for Palm Beach, Florida.

    Often, the notes are slipped into a drawer in the Resolute Desk, a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 that was built from the oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute, first put in the Oval Office by President John F. Kennedy.

    President Ronald Reagan began the tradition when he left the White House in January 1989 after two terms in office, leaving a note for his successor, George H.W. Bush.

    "I opened the top drawer of [what is] my desk now and here was a really lovely, warm note from my predecessor, which I think ... said a lot about our own personal friendship ... a lot about how I got the chance to be in this job," UPI reported then. "And so it was emotional and yet it had a very nice, steady feeling to it, that the presidency goes on."

    The top note on the pad had been used by Reagan, who wrote, "Dear George. You'll have moments when you want to use this particular stationery. Well, go to it." The pad, by the way, showed a flock of cartoon turkeys trying to pull an elephant to the ground and said, "Don't let the turkeys get you down."

    But Reagan also left a heartfelt message. "George, I treasure the memories we share and wish you all the very best. You'll be in my prayers. God bless you and Barbara. I'll miss our Thursday lunches. — Ron."